there's another side to this story. too complicated and unfortunate to share online, publicly.

I read about boardsurfr 's unfortunate experience with his 10' windsup (on his excellent blog) and happen to be very interested in the BIC ace tec wind that he's referring to. But regarding his Exocet windsup, it sounds to me more like a perception, and how he pursued his warranty. I think this 11'8 is awesome. I prefer it to shortboards because it has far more range and versatility.

suffice it to say the circumstances with that case had not allowed the normal warranty procedures to unfold.

gk3540 , pm'ed you but this is a worthy public discussion. what to do about onshore ugly:

power is the key. at 25 knots, there's plenty of juice on tap. how to use it best? i use an onshore board or a cross over free ride. i don't like the term FSW, it is an oxymoron to me. cross 114, stock fin, maybe a few cm smaller. rig "big." about a 5.2 to 5.8 sail, lotsa down haul, and just enough out haul to keep the clew from flopping up and down.

technique, run vs square up. avoid jumps whenever you are smack in the middle of the impact zone. once you weave your way past the middle break, if you choose to jump, do so off the wind, don't pinch into ramps that are closing out toward you.

avoid stalling, and losing your plane. gotta keep the momentum alive to survive. once outside the impact zone, use the extra power to grind upwind. then go get some rides. you may have to choose to only use the furthest outside sections to ride. that way you don't have to run, unhooked, in the middle break as long? and, too many cut backs on a back side ride tends to make you lose too much ground anyway.

there's another side to this story. too complicated and unfortunate to share online, publicly.

jingebritsen wrote:

suffice it to say the circumstances with that case had not allowed the normal warranty procedures to unfold

What exactly are you implying here, John? That is is my fault that Exocet denied the warranty?

Here are the facts:

Dec 2, 2012: WindSUP broke while light wind sailing it in waves. I described it in a brief blog post.

Dec 3, 2012: I brought the board to the dealer where I had bought it 3 months before. He said he'd contact Exocet about the warranty.

Dec 7, 2012: Sailword Cape Cod sends me a message:
"Hi Peter, Exocet says that there is no warranty when the board is damaged in the surf. (...)" After getting this response, I post pictures of the broken board and additional information about the day on my blog.

What are the "normal warranty procedures", if not going to the dealer?

I am not trying to flame the fires about your unfortunate situation. But it seems to me that a board this long and huge would be susceptible to damage if it were to get rolled in the shallows and waves. Is that kind of damage 'supposed" to be covered under warranty? Maybe it should be covered for a limited time like 1 year? When should damage sustained in normal use NOT be covered?

I have never really replaced anything windsurf-related under warranty so I am just curious as to what to expect and what 'should' be covered. I am not taking sides, just trying to understand...

Arranging delivery of this big board was a pain. I would not be happy to have to try and box it back up (boxes are long gone) and send it back to anyone for repairs.

By the way, my 7 year old went windsurfing for the first time yesterday using a 1.0 sail and the windsup. It was perfect for him! Then my wife SUP'd for a while and all were happy.

The WindSUP is marketed for wave sailing, including beginner wave sailing. So it would be reasonable to expect that is does not break in typical use. The feedback I got directly from the dealer and indirectly from Exocet was that any damage that occurred in waves is not covered by warranty. One board repair guy advised me to lie and say the damage happened in flat water, which I did not do.

Part of the problem is construction/design. My board was an AST board. Here's what Pete, who has experience in board repair, wrote in a comment on my blog:

Quote:

As far as your board breaking the AST layup is something you may want to stay away from as it's just fibreglass on EPS core. It's NOT a sandwich construction like our windsurfing boards. Although the AST is quite durable on impact it has no structural integrity.Wood veneer are a bit better but not perfect.

I have taken windsurf boards out in worse shore break many times, and never had any problems. That includes long boards back in the 80s, but those had quite a different constructions (e.g. double wood stringers from front to back). With something as big as a 10-12 ft SUP, you have a two things working against you: more force on the board from the waves, and a construction with limited structural integrity.

If you decide to get a WindSUP and experience problems that you think should not have happened, the dealer should be your first stop regarding the warranty. But keep in mind that the dealer has little to win in a warranty issue - it's mostly a hassle for him. If you don't get a satisfactory solution, contact the US distributor. He has a lot more to lose - people going public about board problems will have a negative impact on sales, and the distributor probably makes as much money on each sale as the dealer. In my case, the distributor was quite reasonable, and paid for half of the repair, when I contacted him after he suggested so on this forum. It would also be a good idea to take some pictures of the conditions, because anyone you talk to will probably assume that the waves were a lot bigger than you say. I posted several time-stamped pictures from a public beach cam taken when my board broke on my blog that showed the waves were rather moderate, but that did not keep some people from assuming that I "blithely ride into mauling waves".

Don't let my bad experience keep you from getting a sailable SUP and taking it into waves. But realize that you'll pay for extra width and volume, which make sailing easier, with a higher likelihood of damage to the board in waves and shore break. That's not the end of the world, a buckled board can be repaired. Look carefully at the board design and construction, and don's assume that heavier weight and impact resistance help you in shore break. I found that the the WindSUP 10 was hard to control in shore break, and I think the higher weight, fat stubby nose, and thick rails all contributed to that. Shorter, lighter, lower volume boards should be easier to control, and give you a livelier ride as you progress. That said, I like long boards .

Yes, I did. It has a very nice glide when light wind sailing, similar to a traditional long board. It does plane in flat water, although the US fin box will limit fin size. It picks up waves quite well, although I have only sailed it in non-breaking waves. So far, I'm very happy with the BIC.

How long did you have it? I was about to make an offer for a 2nd hand Exocet Windsup ( $ 1000 CDN) when I read Boardsurfer’s post lamenting the breach of his board. I got somewhat scared. The price seems good, though. I am in a quandary. Perhaps it is an isolated accident. How long did you have yours? Maybe I should take a chance, but I’d like to know other people's comments about the durability of the board ( or ‘’lack thereof!). I seem to recall having read about this problem somewhere else, but may be fear is distorting my memory.
Thanks for the input

Well here we go again with the cracking in half 11'8". Mine broke in half, but I did get Exocet to refund my money but not until I applied a bit of pressure.
This seemed to be a problem around 2012, I haven't heard of many if any at all problems since.
I had mine put back together but then it broke in half again apparently due to an inadequate repair job, first they put a belly band around it then the second time a different person put a diamond shaped repair patch which has worked well so far.
I love this board, I feel it is about the most versatile board out there, the footstraps and flat tail make all the difference. Paddling it in the waves, not so good but it's a much better flat water paddler than a typical surfing type sup.
I don't use the daggerboard mainly because I kept stubbing my toes on it, I sink the windward rail to go upwind which seems to work well.

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